St. Thekla convent
Posted on 09/07/2013 6:50:13 PM PDT by annalex
On September 5th the Syrian opposition armed groups attempted to capture Maalula, the town populated mostly by Christians, located 60 km from Damascus. The correspondent of "Voice of Russia" got in touch with the eyewitness to the events, which was in town during the assault, Vail Malas.
Maalula town is best known for the fact that its inhabitants speak a dialect of Aramaic, which is close to the language of Jesus Christ. Government troops repulsed the attack, but the militants related to "Dzhabhat en-Nusra" and "Al-Qaeda", managed to gain a foothold on the surrounding heights, from where they continue to shell the town.
That's what told the "Voice of Russia" an eyewitness, who was at the time of the assault in the city, activistWael Malas:
- You were in town Maalula during the assault. What happened there?
- I was visiting relatives in Maalula and met with monks and nuns, when terrorists, "al-Nusra Dzhabhat" and other armed groups, stormed into the city,. They seized the oldest world's first female monastery of Saints Thecla, the Monastery of the Holy Prophet Elijah and a tourist hotel. After that, they began to destroy buildings and desecrate the shrine. Most of the monks and nuns were expelled, some were captured. Several priests killed. All crosses, chandeliers and other church utensils, whatever had any material value was stolen. The rest was burned.
Now these two monasteries are occupied by snipers militants because they are at higher elevations. In addition, we have noticed that the militants had a strange weapon that I had never seen before, I can not even describe it.
The Syrian General: "Sirens and shelters are ready for a possible attack" [in Russian]
It all started when a suicide car bomb drew up and exploded and killed a large number of soldiers in the army checkpoint in the city. After that, several dozen vehicles mounted with weapons entered the city. Foot militants walked alongside. The total number of militants was in the thousands, I could not count them, it seemed that all the forces were transferred to Maalula. When they entered the city, they shouted that will cleanse the earth of sinners. Their goal was to kill as many Christian inhabitants and blow up the maximum number of churches.
I would like to note that the media do not tell the one terrible fact: in the militants started checking people's passports and once saw a man's Christian name, he immediately shot him in the head and walked to the next resident.
Expert: extremists want to dispel the Christians around the world [in Russian]
Patriarch Kirill cautioned against infringing on the rights of Christians [in Russian]
I managed to escape only because during the attack, we were not far off the main highway in the city, where there was a bus, and the driver collected the maximum number of people and left. I was one of the lucky ones. We dressed in the most simple clothes; children and women were with us. A few hours later we learned that the highway was also captured.
All materials on "Syria: be there or not be a war?" read here [in Russian]
[11] Put you on the armour of God, that you may be able to stand against the deceits of the devil. [12] For our wrestling is not against flesh and blood; but against principalities and power, against the rulers of the world of this darkness, against the spirits of wickedness in the high places. [13] Therefore take unto you the armour of God, that you may be able to resist in the evil day, and to stand in all things perfect. [14] Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of justice, [15] And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace: [16] In all things taking the shield of faith, wherewith you may be able to extinguish all the fiery darts of the most wicked one. [17] And take unto you the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit (which is the word of God).(Eph. 6)
In America, the culture of censorship is growing. Even where you'd least expect it.
No, I don't think he is resorting to gas. I am convinced it is a rebels' provocation. The report by the UN is not ready yet. The Russians did a detailed technical report that indicates improvised or outdated delivery system and non-military grade gas:
Haq, the U.N. spokesman, acknowledged that the most recent attack “has pushed the investigation of the Aleppo incident to the back burner for now.” But he said that “the inspectors will get back to it as soon as is possible.”The statement’s summary of the report said that neither the munitions nor the poison gas in the Khan al Asal attack appeared to fit what is possessed by the Syrian government. The statement said Russian investigators studied the site, sent the materials they found to study to the Russian laboratories of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, and followed agreed-upon United Nations investigation standards.
According to the statement, the report said the shell “was not regular Syrian army ammunition but was an artisan-type similar to unguided rocket projectiles produced in the north of Syria by the so-called gang ‘Bashair An-Nasr.’”
The Russian analysis found soil and shell samples contained a sarin gas “not synthesized in an industrial environment,” the statement said. The report said the chemical mix did not appear to be a modern version of the deadly agent but was closer to those “used by Western states for producing chemical weapons during World War II.”
The statement said the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons team had examined Syrian soldiers injured in the March attack and said that no reaction to the more recent alleged chemical account should be considered without also considering that the rebels, too, have used chemical weapons.
“It is obvious that any objective investigation of the incident on Aug. 21 in East Ghouta is impossible without considering the circumstances of the March attack,” the statement said. Ghouta is the area near Damascus where the Aug. 21 attack took place.
Read more here.
Also consider the motivation. The rebels are exasperated trying to get the US administration to side up with them militarily. They understand that given Obama's election-time rhetoric a heart-rending incident with weapons of mass destruction is the ticket to get our cruise missiles on their side. the Syrian government, on the other hand, had no difficulty lately driving the rebels out of major populated areas with conventional means of warfare. Why would Assad risk a missile strike on his head? He is winning already.
Mounting evidence raises questions about Syrian chemical weapon attack
Russia gave UN 100-page report in July blaming Syrian rebels for Aleppo sarin attack
True. That is the reality behind the geopolitical struggles of the Cold War and I am less and less convinced that we won it.
Let us not forget that.
We needn't heroize the Russians on this; Syria has become a fulcrum of Russia's aspirations to get the Soviet superpower status back. However, on the issue of the Syrian Civil War, the American media has become worse than useless. If we want to understand our own administration's policy we have to go to foreign media while we still can.
Because American press is still believed by the overwhelming majority of Americans.
Gaijin!
With great pleasure.
A very detailed account.
Now, Maaloula "is a ghost town. Where is President Obama to see what befallen on us?" asked the man.Another resident who fled the village of 3,000 inhabitants earlier in the day said in a telephone interview that Assad's forces deployed on the outskirts of the village, while gunmen inside refused to allow anybody in.
He said the gunmen declined to allow fleeing people to take five dead bodies out of the village with them.
He said one of the churches, called Demyanos, had been torched and that gunmen stormed into two other churches and robbed them.
Most of the gunmen are foreigners, he said, adding that he heard different dialects, mainly of Tunisians, Libyans, Moroccans and Chechens.
Another resident, a Christian man, said he saw militants forcing some Christian residents to convert to Islam. "I saw the militants grabbing five villagers Wednesday and threatening them (saying): 'Either you convert to Islam, or you will be beheaded,'" he said.
The two other residents said they heard about the conversions, but did not see them. All three spoke on condition of anonymity out of fears of retaliation. A Christian woman who spoke to the AP on Thursday also said there were reports that militants threatened villagers with death if they did not convert.
Observe: the so-called rebels are bandits from all over the Maghreb, and from Chechnya. This is not even a genuine uprising, it is foreign aggression. The Syrian government is waging a just defensive war.
Well stated and exactly right. There has been a consistent US doctrine which quite apparently has found common cause with the world-wide Jihad. A bankrupt foreign policy.
Umm, just what was the American ambassador doing in Benghazi?
Sounds like a staging area for a little foreign adventure...
I am not heroizing anything. It was a statement of fact. I am used to the ‘foreign’ press being more useful than the US press. That has been true for most of my life. But when the Soviet information is more accurate than ANYTHING coming from the US or the admin there is something grossly wrong. I don’t really care about their motivations. I presume always that there is bias. It is called reading in context and with comprehension. Doesn’t change anything I had to say
Exactly. Just as the Serbs tried to do.
Indeed.
Surely that’s no surprise to you.
Amazing village. But it’s one that I will likely never be able to visit, now that Islamism has taken over. Another place that Christians and Jews are not allowed to go. Thanks leftists.
Maalula has three claims to fame; its setting; its early Christian associations; and the resistance of the villagers to the final replacement of Aramaic by Arabic as the language of communication. There may be some doubt about the extent to which Aramaic, the language spoken by Christ and the popular lingua franca of the area until the Arab conquest in the seventh century, has remained in active use to the present day. However, even the vestigial survival of West Aramaic (Syriac) as a spoken tongue indicates the tenacity with which the inhabitants of Maalula have clung to their identity.
This is going to turn out very badly if the American people do not put a stop to it.
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